Comedy Death-Ray

The hour is almost upon us: SF Sketchfest, the nearly three-week-long smorgasbord of top comedians that brightens up each January, begins this week. Since the festival is long, with lots of events each day, we're going to break our recommendations into two posts: the first will cover this week's events, from opening day, Thursday, January 14, through Thursday, January 21, and the second, next week, will offer recommendations for the bottom half of the proceedings. Tickets for all the events listed below are available from Sketchfest's website, or the individual venues.